Odd guys, odd faces and odd feelings
by Jazzlemashazzle
Summary: Michael was a normal, popular politician and, though somewhat lonely, he was happy with his life the way it was. Then he stumbled across Joe, a charming musician, and his world was changed forever? ThatOddJoeHasAFace fanfic, no smut, just fluff!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N – So this is my first attempt at any fanfiction ever, so go easy on me! I know it's probably kinda crap buuuut I like it, so I just hope you do too! **

**Enjoy!**

The air was still and warm and the evening quiet as Michael strolled through the park, enjoying the temporary break from reality walking his dog brought. Being one of the leading labour politicians in the country was his dream job, and he did love it, but it wasn't a job that came without its fair share of stress and it was nice to get away from it all every now and then.  
>Remembering a depressingly large pile of reports to go through at home he sighed, calling his sleek golden Labrador over to him and scratching behind her ears. "Time to head back I'm afraid, girl" he murmured to her affectionately; his dog, Claire, was probably one of the only living creatures in the world that could call themselves close to him (not that Claire, being a dog, could really call anyone anything). Michael shared everything with her, all his secrets, hopes and dreams, and in some odd way she seemed to understand him. He often wished she were human, there was no doubt in his mind that were that the case, she would be his closest friend.<p>

He attached the lead and straightened up, starting slightly when he saw a man about his age, also with a dog, looking at him with a mixture of curiosity and nervous reverence. Catching his eye, the man looked away quickly and, eyes fixed on his shoes, he walked on briskly, seeming to speed up a bit as he passed Michael but stopping abruptly as he felt a sharp tug on his lead. Both men looked over at their dogs, who had sat down next to each other and looked to be having a completely silent conversation, a sight that put both of the men slightly on edge.

Michael cleared his throat awkwardly "I'm –ahem- I'm Michael, and this is Claire." He said, gesturing to the dog who was now lying lazily against the other, then holding his hand out to the stranger.

"Joe," he replied, shaking Michael's hand, "I'm Joe, this is Lucy and I umm, I know who you are, I saw you on News Night last Monday." He finished, looking down at his shoes. Ahh, Michael thought to himself, that would explain why he looked so nervous, and suddenly it was Michael's turn to look at his shoes.

"Oh, I see...just so you know, I'm not usually like that, in general I'm a lot less verbally aggressive but what can I say, David Cameron just happens to be a complete bastard who bring out the worst in me..." he finished on a slight rant, then, realising his words, his eyes shot up, wide with panic as he stammered "OH shitshitshitshit PLEASE don't quote me on that I was just, umm, I mean to say, I just-"

Laughing lightly, Joe cut him off, "Don't worry about it, a) no-one else was around to hear it so I doubt anyone would take it seriously, b) I wouldn't say anything anyway because c) I couldn't agree with you more" he finished, grinning cheekily, his easy smile making Michael feel something he hadn't felt in an extremely long time, and something that made him extremely uncomfortable and **extremely** confused; butterflies.

Stepping back suddenly, he averted his eyes from Joes and said abruptly "Well, I really have to go so it was nice to meet you and...yeah. Bye." And with that he turned and walked away quickly, pulling Claire along behind him, leaving Joe stood there with a flicker of disappointment in his eyes and trying to block out the unwelcome feelings now stirring inside of him.

Michael spent the rest of the day burying himself in work, trying to forget the feeling that stirred within him earlier, but his mind kept wondering back to that easy, crooked smile and he found himself getting more and more confused each minute. What really confused him more than anything, was the fact that he was straight, he had always been completely straight (well, bar his brief Matt Smith phase, but no-one could judge him for that! When it comes to Matt Smith, love knows no bounds). But he had never had **these **feelings about another guy before, and it scared him somewhat to think that everything he had always known about himself might not be everything there was to know about himself.

None of it mattered anyway, he told himself as he lay in bed, unable to sleep from the flurry of confusing thoughts and feelings swirling around in his head. It wasn't extremely likely that after 24 years of not knowing or seeing Joe they would meet again all that soon, was it? With that thought in his head, he drifted off into an uneasy sleep, hoping the distraction of work tomorrow would sufficiently drive all thoughts of Joe and his damn smile out of his mind.

Michael awoke early the next day, an hour before his alarm and realising he wouldn't be able to get back to sleep, he grudgingly pulled himself out of bed, an action that constituted rolling onto the floor in a bundle of duvet and staring at the same spot of carpet for a full 3 minutes before getting himself up and resigning himself to being awake; Michael was not a morning person. After a sleepy shower, a slice of toast and feeding Claire he set off to work early, giving himself more time than normal so he could treat himself to a stop at his favourite coffee shop as he so liked to do when he was feeling stressed.

He walked into 'Just Bean' still half asleep, but smiling; there was a reason that this place was his favourite, and that was that nothing ever changed here. He could go through hell, get bad publicity, have bad arguments, make bad decisions, anything, but this place always stayed the same. There was the same Russian woman behind the counter, and after he ordered the same order he always did (hot chocolate, without the cream to go) she asked the same question she always did of "Sandwich and cake?" to which he, like he always had, would politely say no whilst internally his mind was doing terrible imitations of her accent. He sighed contentedly at the familiarity of it all.

As he waited for his drink, he heard a strum of guitar strings and smiled again, that would be Darren, the resident coffee sop singer who both wrote and performed extremely well. However, when the familiar voice spoke into the microphone, it wasn't Darren's familiar voice he heard.

"Hi guys, umm, well I guess that those of you who come here often will realise that I'm not Darren, the normal performer. If you didn't know, he's gone away to America to find his 'big break' so I err, I guess you're stuck with me for now then! I'm Joe, and this is a song by one of my favourite artists. Enjoy."

Michael turned slowly, coffee cup now clutched in his hand, to see the same man from yesterday afternoon sat on a stool in the corner, guitar in hand, clearing his throat before beginning to sing.

_My strings are broken_

_And my heart is out of tune._

_I wanted quiet_

_But all I see is you,_

_I don't know anything._

Joe looked up, looking out at nowhere in particular, the passion and pain in his eyes apparent as he continued.

_The earth is spinning_

_But my feet are standing still,_

_And the wind is biting_

_But I'm fighting off the chill,_

_I don't know anything._

Michael felt like he should turn and walk away, but he just couldn't. The way this guy was performing was captivating, and looking round he noticed that the rest of the room was completely silent, watching as he went. There the odd slow, zombie-like gulp of a drink or bite of food, but everyone seemed entranced at the immense **feeling** that poured off every note. Even the employees had stopped taking and making orders and the queue of customers didn't seem bothered with ordering either. Everyone just watched in impressed silence as he finished the song.

_Why can't you see?_

_I'd trade in the world_

_...for you..._

There was a short silence in the room and Joe looked down at his shoes saying "The original is done on piano, so I'm not sure how well that worked with guitar, but-" he trailed off as the room broke into applause and people started getting up, dropping a mixture of coins and a few phone numbers into the tip jar and some going up to give him a pat on the back. Joe looked around excitedly, pleased that everyone had enjoyed it, and then noticed Michael, catching his eye and splitting into a grin. "I'm just gonna have a quick break, I'll be right back in a few."

He took the guitar off, set it down and strolled over to Michael at the counter, leaning against it and saying to the employees "The usual, thanks" before turning back to Michael and asking with feigned curiosity "Stalking me, are we? No, Marie, no sandwich or cake, thank you." He smiled his cheeky smile, and turned back to meet his eye, asking nervously "So...what did you think?"

"I think you're much too talented to be stuck playing in a coffee shop. Then again, I thought the same about Darren and now he's gone off to find fame and fortune in America so who knows? Maybe you'll end up doing the same." Michael smiled back, charmingly, stubbornly pushing away the flustered feeling that rose within him from looking into Joe's bright eyes. "And I also reckon that should you have a significant other, you're going to disappoint a lot of people" he added, gesturing towards the tip jar which now looked like it had more phone numbers in it than it had tips, and a group of teenage girls stood nearby who started giggling madly as Joe shot them a cheeky smile and a wink.

"Luckily for them, " he said, turning back to Michael "I don't have a significant other. Unluckily for them, however, they are both a bit too young for me I think and uhh, they're not exactly 'my type', as it were." He said the last bit with a faint blush creeping across his cheeks, looking absolutely anywhere but Michael, who was trying to work out if Joe was saying what he thought he was saying and, ohmygod was this his way of telling Michael he was interested?

There was a short awkward silence in which neither of the men really knew what to say, but was broken quickly by Joe's drink arriving. Michael stared at the large mug of what he assumed was hot chocolate; you couldn't exactly see the drink under the absolute mountain of whipped cream, marshmallows and chocolate powder piled on top. Catching Michael's awed expression, Joe laughed and said "Well, when you get free drinks coz you work here, why not go all out! What about you, what's your poison?"

"Same as you, actually, hot chocolate, only I have it without all that cream and with a lid on so people assume it's something more manly and serious, like coffee..." he admitted sheepishly. When he looked at Joe, he saw a soft smile on his face and Joe said, in an even softer voice "You know, you don't have to hide behind coffee lids if you don't want to? You can be whoever you want to be, regardless of what others think of you."

And with that, he went back to his guitar, leaving Michael late for work and more Confused than ever.

**A/N – First off, Claire and Lucy, I apologise, but I wanted you guys to still be in the picture somehow so I thought why not have you as the pets! I hope you realise that I mean it in the most loving way possible**

**The song was The World Is Mine (I don't know anything) by Alex Day.**

**Reviews more than welcome, ta!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N – Sorry about how long it took to put this online, it has been completed for….ages now. ENJOY!**

Michael was in no right mindset to work that day. The song he's heard that morning, and the words spoken to him afterwards seemed to play through his head on repeat as he tried to make sense of it all. Twice he found himself completely ignoring the meetings going on around him and having to be shouted at a few times to be brought back to attention. His colleagues had never seen him like this since...well, they tended not to mention her name, but the question was; Was Michael going back to that place, mentally? They didn't know whether it would be a good thing or a very, very bad thing.

After a few hours of half-hearted arguments and discussions that went in one ear and out the other, Michael finally sank into the solitude of his office, sat at his desk and buried his face in his hands, groaning wearily. If anything, he just wished he could get that damned song out of his head! It was a good song, and beautifully performed, but it was haunting him and for the love of all things holy it was driving him insane! He remembered somebody once saying that the only way to get a song out of your head is to listen to it again, so he turned to his computer and typed the lyrics into youtube, the video showing up being 'Alex Day – The world is mine (I don't know anything)' and he pressed play. The song was still good, and he did still like it, but it lacked something that Joe put into his performance that Michael couldn't quite pin down.

And there he was, with his mind back on Joe again. He felt this need to hear him sing again, and so he turned back to youtube and typed in 'the world is mine Just Bean', hoping that one of the people watching this morning had filmed and uploaded it, and he was in luck. He looked at the title 'Joe Miller Just Bean – The world is mine cover' and suddenly Michael had a name. Not just "Hi, I'm Joe" but an actual name, one that made Joe a real person with a job and a bank account and a passport all in the name 'Joe Miller', and Michael was just about to run and look him up on facebook when he stopped himself, coming to his senses somewhat and breathing deeply. He had met the guy TWICE, and come away from both meeting with such a mix of feelings he had still yet to make sense of, and now he wanted to stalk this guy online? It seemed to dawn on Michael just how insane he was being.

Taking a deep breath, he collected his thoughts. Before anything else, he needed to work out what the hell it was he was feeling. Later, he would probably realise it was blindly obvious what exactly it was, but was scared to make himself feel weak again, but at the time he just felt SO confused. He decided that the only way he could make sense of it all would be to watch him sing again, and so he pressed play on the video still open on his screen. The next 5 minutes were spent in the same revered silence that had filled the coffee shop, and even from the poor quality of someone's camera-phone Michael could just hear that same passion that had gripped his heart that morning. He sat back as the video ended, his heart beating that bit faster and a small smile playing on his lips. He pulled out his phone and dialled one of the only numbers he ever used, in the hopes that he could shed some light on the situation.

"**What, Michael! You know, I'm going to get in trouble if you keep calling me at work."**

"Bullshit, you own the place, you're about as likely to get in trouble there as you are likely to stop wearing Jack Wills."

"**True as that may be, you never do know when your employees will just turn around and rebel on you, so before that happens and I find myself thrown out onto the street by my own people, I repeat: what, Michael!"**

"Callum, I think..." Michael paused, unsure quite how to phrase his predicament.

"**Well spit it out already! Hoestly, you haven't sounded this nervous about anything since...since...oh god, she's not back is she? TELL ME she isn't back because if she is so help me god I'll-"**

"You'll what? Call her fashion sense cheap? Keep your knickers on, she's not back. Though she might as well be..." He added the last part in an undertone, underestimating the perceptiveness of his friend who immediately shot back **"What do you mean, might as well be?"**

"Well," Michael sighed "she's not back, but...the feeling is."

"**The feeling?"**

"The feeling."

"**You mean THE feeling? The feeling-y heart-y butterfly-y feeling perfect-y feeling?"**

"That would be the one."

"**...well fuck. Congratulations, I guess? You've actually spoken to them this time, I assume? Because last time it was just kind of pathetic with all the staring from afar."**

"Yes we've met, twice. I know it's not much but Callum he sings and oh, you should just see him perform, it is so-"

"**Wait a second, wait a second, back up for a minute there, HE?" **Michael heard a loud crash on the other end of the phone, and a faint **"It's fine, Martha, really, just get back out there we're packed today!"** then a scrambling sound as Callum went to pick up the phone he'd just dropped.

"**Sorry, Mikey, I was kind of leaning back on my chair and, umm, slipped. Back to the point, he's a he? I spent HOW MANY years of high school getting called the camp one and YOU turn out to be the raging homosexual?"**

"I'm not gay, Callum..."

"**Well you get the feeling around him, right?"**

"Yeah, but-"

"**And what do you think of him, looks wise?"**

"Well...he's definitely not bad looking, and his eyes while he's performing are just amazing, they're so expressive, it's like he's telling me all his secrets without saying a word...oh, and his has this smile that is just so...so free and easy, you know? It's brilliant. But that doesn't change the fact that I'm not gay."

"**Yeah, and I didn't care about the royal wedding." **Callum deadpanned, and you could almost hear him rolling his eyes over the phone.

"Callum, please? I am really confused right now and could maybe do with some ACTUAL support from my best friend? Think you can manage that?" Michael's voice was now muffled as he'd sunk his face into his arms, as though hiding from it all would make it go away.

"**Okay, calm down," **Callum said, now serious. As much fun as it was to tease his friend, he got sick of 'Whingey Michael' very quickly. **"Just take deep breaths and listen. You're going to come over here for some afternoon tea-"**

"Okaaaaaay"

"**I'm not finished yet! You're going to come over here for some afternoon tea...with him."** He concluded, waiting for panicky high-pitched Michael to kick in. After a few seconds of stunned silence, during which anyone who looked into Michael's office would have thought he was having a stroke or something similar, Callum got what he expected.

"WHAT?" Michael cried down the phone, his voice not several octaves higher "ARE YOU INSANE? I CAN'T JUST GO UP AND ASK HIM OUT, I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW I FEEL OR IF I'M – oh, sorry Thomas, yeah I'll try keep it down a bit." Michael took a deep breath to collect himself, remembering where he was, before starting up again more calmly. "I don't even know if I'm gay or bi or whatever, and you're telling me to ask him out? For afternoon tea of all thing? You do realise just how gay asking someone out to afternoon tea sounds, right? You can only get around that if you're going with relatives, and I'm not doing it."

"**Well it won't matter how gay going out for afternoon tea sounds if he **_**is**_** gay, does it? Oh what, he is gay right?"**

"I'm fairly sure, yes. But you're forgetting that I currently have no clue what I am."

"**Listen, Michael, there is only one person who can tell you who or what you are."**

"Let me guess, myself?"

"**No, me, and I am currently reconsidering my previous verdict of 'mildly bicurious'."**

"Wait, what? Since when have I been mildly bicurious?" Michael squeaked indignantly, earning himself an amused look from his secretary, who was used to his eccentricities by now.

"**Oh please," **Callum scoffed **"you should have seen yourself during your Matt Smith phase, it's a surprise I didn't pin you down as a flaming homosexual there and then!"**

Michael blushed, remembering all the times he had dressed as Matt Smith, made videos about him in his teenage years, and that one time when Smith had tweeted him and he had literally squealed like a girl. "Well you can't exactly count the Matt Smith phase as a sign of homosexuality; you see, Matt Smith isn't a man, he's a god."

"**Really not helping the 'I'm not gay' argument here. Look, all I want to do is see how you act around each other, get a feel for the situation, it's not as if I'm asking you to serenade him, and you know there's no point arguing because I ****will**** get my way in the end, sooooooo, you're coming. I'll see you in no less than an hour, okay?"** Michael could almost hear Callum smiling smugly down the phone at him, knowing he would in fact get his way.

"Fine," Michael conceded, his face in his hand, "finem you win. I'll go...go and ask Joe out for tea and I'll text you when I'm on my way. Happy now?"

"**Awww Mikey, don't be like that! You sound like I just kicked your puppy! But for the record, yes, very happy. Now go and ask him out before I track him down and do it for you!"** And with that, Callum hung up, leaving Michael to consider how best he should proceed with what he was about to do. He was about to ask Joe out on a maybe date. He, Michael Lewis, was about to ask out Joe Miller, and in amongst all the nerves and confusion in his head, he felt an unmistakable excitement.

20 minutes later saw Michael stood outside Just Bean, deciding whether or not he should just bite the bullet and go in or ignore Callum and run home to wallow in self-pity for a few says. The latter option did seem extremely tempting to him, but the only thing keeping him from doing that was a burning desire to understand what the hell is was that he was feeling. Well, that and the memory of the last time he had gone against Callum and came home to find all his videogames had been locked in a safe in the middle of his living room, and a family of ducks living in his bath. This was why Callum usually got what he wanted, and to that day Michael still wasn't quite sure how he'd broken in. As if reading his mine, Michael received a text from Callum saying

**I have men waiting outside your flat, ready to fill your bath, toilets and bed with various flavours of jelly. You have 10 minutes to ask him out, GO! – C**

Michael stared at the screen, not a doubt in his mind that Callum was telling the truth, before quickly tapping out

**YOU'RE INSANE! I'm going in – M**

Then, with a deep breath and summoning his strength, he went inside to join the queue. He was immediately relieved to see Joe still sat at the stool, just finishing a song and taking a drink of water. As Michael ordered his drink, Joe turned back to the mic and said "Okay, well, here's the last song for the day and then I get to go home and have a Flight of the Conchords marathon. So I'm gonna play you an original song I wrote, and I hope you like it. It's called 'Stranger'. Michael sat himself at a table fairly near the performance area and relaxed a bit, listening to the song.

_Some say the eyes are the windows to the soul,_

_Well if that's true then, oh why can't I get hold of_

_Who you are_

_And how you feel about me?_

Joe was picking at his guitar strings so carefully, the overall delicacy of the performance reminding Michael somewhat of a child carefully unwrapping a Christmas present but trying not to tear the wrapping paper.

_Oh well I look at you and you're holding nothing back_

_But understanding you must be some skill I lack_

_Coz it feels like_

_There is something in you that I can't see..._

_But I won't let my failures win_

_And I will keep on pushing till I can get in_

At this point he looked up from the floor and Michael could see a look of almost determination, frustration and possibly anger on Joe's face. He must have been completely lost in the performance because he didn't seem to notice Michael as his eyes swept the room.

_I know everything about you_

_But I don't know who you are_

_You're my best friend, you're my first love_

_And I know how you leave scars_

_But want you want and how you feel_

_It seems will never be revealed_

_And I don't think I can take that I'm in love with a stranger_

Something stirred within Michael, he wondered if Joe realised just how much he related with these lyrics. Wait, what was he thinking? Joe didn't know anything about Michael, much less anything about the finer points of his past relationships. Michael shook himself out of it and focused back on the song.

_Oh I don't think I can take it!_

_No I don't think I can stay_

_When I feel as if I'm losing more and more of you each day_

_And it should be that I'm learning,_

_I should know your heart by now_

_All I want's for me to feel you but I don't know how..._

Michael started slightly at the force with which Joe delivered the bridge; it was extremely different to the delicate beginning and the softness of the mornings performance, but that same raw passion was there, just portrayed differently. The guitar got softer, and Joe's voice returned to the delicate tone he has at the start of the song as he closed his eyes for the last few lines.

_I knew everything about you_

_But I didn't know who you were_

_You were my best friend and my first love_

_And you left your share of scars_

_But what you wanted, how you felt_

_Well that never was revealed..._

_But I just couldn't take being in love with a stranger._

He finished the song with a strum, smiling at the smattering of applause he received. Michael, deciding it was now or never, stood up from his table, clapping and whooping loudly and earning himself a few funny looks from the other customers. Joe, who had just been thanking his audience and saying goodbye, looked around to see where all the fuss was coming from, smirking when he saw Michael. He grabbed his guitar case and made his way over, sitting down opposite Michael and saying "Wow, so you really **are** stalking me, aren't you?"

"Not necessarily" retorted Michael, "I might just love this coffee shop and stop by for their delicious beverages at every given opportunity."

"Hmmm it's true, you might, except for the past month I have either been working here or drowning my jobless sorrows in hot chocolate provided by the delightful Marie, who let me keep a tab instead of paying her upfront, which is rather helpful considering I didn't actually have any money, being jobless and all. Marie was very good to me, have you tried her sandwiches and cake? They're pretty awesome and she's hilariously proud of them, offers them to every single customer, but anyways I'm rambling now, I do that, sorry. My point was, I have practically lived here for a month and not seen you once, and now I see you twice in one day? That's pretty fair grounds for a stalker theory if you ask me." He finished, letting out a huff of breath and looking at Michael expectantly.

"Finished?" Michael asked with an amused smile on his face, raising his eyebrows at Joe.

"Shush, like I said, I ramble. Stop changing the subject, stalker."

"Have you considered that maybe you didn't see me before because you weren't looking for me before? And that would mean that for you to be noticing me now, you would have to be looking for me, making you the stalker."

Joe narrowed his eyes at Michael, trying to calculate a witty response, and opened his mouth to speak when Michael cut across him, saying "Don't even try to win this, Joe, remember that you're talking to a politician. I debate things for a living, you're not going to win this." Michael smiled smugly.

"Ahh but here's the thing, **did** you come just to see me?"

"That would be a yes, actually." Michael said, summoning all his courage and hoping against hope that he wasn't making a mistake. "I actually wanted to know if you wanted to get afternoon tea with me? If you're not busy, that is." Michael eyed Joe slightly nervously, waiting for the rejection, but instead he just got a slightly amused look and Joe was smiling when he spoke again.

"Afternoon tea? I guess I could go for that. Lead the way, good sir!"


End file.
